Father, Son Accused Of Child Sex Abuse: Bible Defense

Father and son Timothy and Esten Ciboro, who are charged with abusing and molesting children, announced Jan. 20 in Toledo, Ohio, that they want to use the Bible as their legal defense.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Linda Jennings ruled that the men will be allowed to bring their Bible to their trial, in which they will be representing themselves.

The two men are charged with several counts of "rape, kidnapping, and endangering children for allegedly abusing children in their care," notes The Toledo Blade.

Esten told Jennings that the Bible is "the only law book that truly matters," and added: "There's a great deal of strategy in Scripture and I use those strategies in everything I do."

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Jennings agreed to allow the father and son to place a Bible on their defense table in court during their trial.

One of their alleged victims is a 13-year-old girl who told authorities that she was chained in a basement inside the Ciboro home.

The teen escaped the home in May 2016, noted WNWO.

The girl, donned in unkempt hair and clothes, was discovered by Karen Loudermill, who asked the young lady where her parents were.

The girl said that she had a dad, "but he's not my biological dad. Mom is in Las Vegas." She went on to say: "We [are] on a point system. 50 points, get punished, shackled to basement." The teen said she had lived in the home with her stepfather since 2012.

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Loudermill noticed the shackles on the teen's feet and convinced the girl to come inside her workplace. The child asserted that Esten, her stepbrother, punished her when she was shackled in the basement.

The girl (along with a brother and sister) was placed in the custody of Lucas County Children Services, while Timothy and Esten were arrested.

The girl's mother, Stafonda Hawkins, was also arrested in May 2016, reported WTOL.

Hawkins was picked up in Toledo by the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force for allegedly violating her parole, which was issued in November 2015.

According to police, Hawkins and her young son were living with an unidentified family member.